SECTION 3. BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE COASTAL ZONE AND BILOGICAL RESOURCES

3.2. The biological resources of the sea

The Caspian basin has exclusively high fish economic meaning (table 3.2.1). Not in far away past the annual production of was 500-600 thousand tons of fish, and the main trade fish were white sturgeon, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, sterlet, white salmon, connecting and marine herrings, pike perchs, breams, sazans, voblas, cat-fish, jerekh, kutum and others. Such a position was kept till the beginning of the 50s of the present century, when the hydro construction, annual redistribution of river flows, the limitation of spring passes, the fence of the big volumes of water for irrigation and other needs, the exploitation of the water fences without effective means to protect fish and the pollution of the water led to the worsening of the reproduction conditions of valuable fish of the Caspian basin, the shortage of their reserves and catches. Thus, if 1932-1936 the annual catches of the food fish (without sprat) by all fish catching enterprises (excluding Iran) were 394 thousand tons/year, and in 1951-1955 they decreased to 283 thousand tons/year, and in 1990-1995 – to 81 thousand tons/year. Starting from the 50s the trade of sprat in Middle and Southern Caspian Sea got activated in order to compensate the lack of catches of valuable fish. The catch of sprats by the Caspian countries (except Iran) composed about 100 thousand tons in 1997. The share of Russia in the total catch of sprats in comparison with 1996 increased from 77% to 90%.

Table 3.2.1.

Of the overall number of Caspian fish only 40 species and subspecies have trade value, besides, all these fish are found quite rarely in the catches. The condition of fish reserves of the Caspian Sea at present is conditioned by the transgression and the high waters of Volga. The improved conditions promoted the increase of the biomass of all parts of the food chain – phyto-and zooplankton, bentoce. The favorable trophic condition in the Northern Caspian became available for the developing of the ordinary sprat, semi-connecting fish and stellate sturgeon. However the absolute number of the sturgeons in comparison with 1991 continues to grow and is 25-30 million specimens. On the background of the sharp decrease of sturgeon fish the share of their young generations all over the Caspian Sea increased from 56% to 70% and that offers the restoration of the trade reserves in 8-16 years. Biological variety and relative biomass of water bioreserves that have commercial value, prevails in the Northern Caspian. The ichtiofauna of this region is represented by 17 families, 53 kins and 63 species and subspecies. There are sturgeons (stellate sturgeon, white sturgeon, thorn, Russian sturgeon), salmos (white salmon), carps (bream, sazan, vobla), perches (pike prech) and Caspian seal found in the Caspian Sea.

In general, the commercial biological reserves of the Caspian Sea, related to the high productivity reservoirs, are quite big. The main trade objects of the present time are the 25 species, where the sturgeons are the most valuable among them and compose 70% of world reserves as per the last data and estimations. Let us note, that the previous estimations were 80-90%. The overall reserve of valuable trade fish only in the Northern Caspian prevails 1 billion tons, and in price this is about 1 billion USD. The overall revenue of the export of black caviar in 1994 by Russia (20,8 tons), Kzakhstan (28,5 tons) and Iran (156 tons) is estimated to be close to 100 million USD.

The modern ecological and biological look of the Caspian Sea is defined by the effect of natural and anthropogenic factors (Picture 3.2.1). From one side, the raising of the sea level is accompanied by the change of the hydrological and hydrochemical regimes and that promotes the improvement of the food base fro all the food fish. At the same time the increasing pollution of the water environment, the regulation of the river flows, irrevocable deattachment of water from the river basins can negatively effect the biocenosis. The continuing from 1978 the raising of the level (transgression) defined the relative, favorable potential of the change of the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. However, no real growth of the commercially significant bioresources took place, and that testifies of the fact that the presence of water would not, as it used to be the previous years, be a defining factor for the biological productivity of the sea. The break of the ecological balance and common system of the use of biological resources of the sea can lead to the sharp decrease of the potential on fish productivity and can even lead to full loss of the value of the most valuable species, especially the sturgeon. The consequences of the penetration of the Mnempiosis for the commercially significant biological resources.

The fish production of the Caspian basin is the compound multifunctional industrial-economic complex and plays the main role in the food complex of the Russian region, having remained on of the main sources of provision of the population by the food products. The catches of Russia are the domination ones and are more than half of overall fish catch in the basin (table 3.2.2). Although the input of the basin into all Russian catches was not exceeding 3,5 % in 1995-1998, it still gives more than 70% of all sturgeon catch and more than 60% of the catch of large fine-mesh fish in Russia. The fish production of the region arrives not only to the local market but also to the central European part of Russia, to Siberia and Ural. The catches of Russia in the Caspian Sea in 1999 are given in the table 3.2.3.

Picture 3.2.1. The influence of different factors onto the condition of biological reserves of the Caspian Sea (by V.P.Ivanov, 2000).

Table 3.2.2. The catch of fish and non-fish objects in the Caspian region, thousands tons.

Table 3.2.3. The catches of Russia in the Caspian basin in 1999 (including the delta of Volga and Volgo-Akhtubinskiy flood-land, internal reservoirs of Republic of Dagestan and Kalmikiya), tons, (data of VNIRO)

Along with that in 1994 Russia lost the leading position in the legal production of the most valuable and significant product of the Caspian Sea – the sturgeon caviar, having given the first place to Iran (table 3.2.4)

The break of the common system of the reproduction, the protection and use of the biological resources after 1991, the wide use of the illegal trade of the sturgeons in the sea led to the immediate fell down of their reserves and catches (table 3.2.5). Biomass of the spawning part of the population of sturgeon on Volga decreased in 9 times from 1981 to 1996. The legal catch of sturgeons in Volga composed 1,22 thousand tons a year, all over the basin the catch decreased to 1,85 thousand tons (excluding Iran, where the annual catch was 1,5 thousand tons. The critical position in which the Caspian sturgeons found themselves led to the inclusion in 1997 all the sturgeons into the list of the Annex II of the Convention on the international trade by the species of flora and fauna, that are under the threat of disappearing (SITES). This allows to action the mechanisms of the international control over the export of caviar and other production from the sturgeons, appealed to decrease the stimulation for poaching.

Table 3.2.4.

Table 3.2.5.

The critical situation assembles over the other valuable trade species. For example, in 1998 the concentration of the producers of white salmon, that came for spawning into Volga during the period of high waters (February-March), appeared to be three times less than for the last 15 years. The white salmon that came to spawn in Volga due to the increased poaching almost did not return into sea.

It is important to note that the official statistics does not take into account the results of the criminal trade by biological resources (poaching). According to the estimations of the experts some of the criminal trades might be 10 times higher than the legal trade of the same species. As a result of the poaching there is a real threat to lose the sturgeon as the object of trading with all the negative consequences for the population of the costal areas.

SECTION 1

SECTION 2

SECTION 3

SECTION 4

SECTION 5

SECTION 6

General Information | The ITCAMP Network | Useful Links | Reading Room
     

CRTC for Integrated Transboundary Coastal Area Management and Planning
Department of Environment, Marine Environment Research Bureau
187, Nejatollahi St, PO Box 15875-5181, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tel.: +9821 8808776; 8901096
Fax: +9821 8907223; 8901269
E-mail: cep-doe@neda.net
© 2001-2003, CEP